Taro T

Nope. That was said in a news conference. Might try to find that cringe worthy letter to STHers, but don't believe "suffering" was directly stated as such in it.

In and of itself. Absolutely. BUT IF either the pick you get back (preferably) or the Sabres pick along with, say, Peterka gets you Robertson AND something else useful comes back for Byram then it doesn't necessarsily have to be a rebuilding move. Unfortunately, Adams to date has not demonstrated an abilty to work multiple moves to alter the current roster's makeup without diminishing the current roster. So, maybe it ends up another friggin' rebuilding move. And realize (and have for a couple of months) that Byram is as good as gone, but absolutely hate that idea. We suffered all the Mittelstadt growing pains to bring in a high ceiling D that would be still suffering his own growing pains while a Sabre; and JUST when we finally get close to the point that he should start being the player he'll be in his prime, they trade him away. BTW, agree with those saying a late 1st is in no way commensurate with the value Byram SHOULD bring. There'd have to be another GOOD piece involved in that theoretical trade.

Yes, taxes in NYS, CA, and a few other places are crazily high. Insurance rates in NYS are significantly lower than in a place like FLA. Can't see this issue ever getting directly addressed because there is so much more than just taxes that go into the CoL in any particular location. Plus, the players on good teams can live wherever then want for 1/4 of the year; and the players on teams like Buffalo can live wherever they want for nearly 1/2 the year. Throw in travel days for road trips or during the AS break and they MIGHT even be able to declare they aren't NYS residents provided the team stays a cellar dweller which helps lower their NYS tax burden to a degree. (Maybe that'll be the next iteration of "palm trees;" come play for the Sabres, the tax burden is usually lower than for the guys playing on the Rags or Aisles. 😉 ) Expect there is a significantly greater possibility BF-LTIR get revised in the next CBA than tax effects on the SC get included. And don't honestly expect much, if anything, to be done regarding BF-LTIR. Most likely they'd add a stipulation that if a player has been on BF-LTIR for more than a certain threshold (1-1/2 months, 2 months, 3 months???) then the player has to be cleared from BF-LTIR for x days at the end of the regular season to be allowed to play in the post season. And teams within a couple of years will find ways to essentially circumvent even the minimal changes the league implements. So, do expect that technically they'll address BF-LTIR with the next CBA, but don't expect it to materially change anything that Vegas is already planning to do to work the system.

Well, Regier WAS a part of the organization at the time he declared there would be "suffering." Should have been fired on the spot but instead he started us down this road and wasn't canned until Rolston directed an absolutely unwatchable product on the ice.

Nah. THE worst was the one where Regier said there would be "suffering." He didn't lie; but we've been living with the aftermath of that decision for going on 15 years. Honorable mention, the one where Bryan Lewis explained why "no goal" was adjudicated properly. LIAR LIAR pants on fire.

Said it at the time, it was an interesting take to decide the problem they had in the final was that they weren't offensive enough as they let several of their defensively responsible players leave without any true replacements for them. Loved the McLeod deal when it was made and it likely will only get better. And it is possible the Eulers will rally and pull this out; but FLA has consistently gotten stronger as their series have gone on, so definitely wouldn't want a mortgage payment riding on it.

Well, they did tank to win multiple SCs. So it ... worked, ... , uh, riiiiiight? 🤔

The Sabres can't work those sort of deals anymore. They can't be the one giving away the better player. They need to be the one adding the sweeteners to get the better player.

TWICE!!! They repeated the Rex Ryan saga; but this time rather than choosing McDermott they went with Richie Kotite's younger brother who happened to have been working in the copier room.

Well, if the Eulers don't want to go out in 5 they're going to have to get back to playing their style of hockey. No way they're going to out Swamp Rat the Swamp Cats. Guess these guys listened to the talking heads that were saying they needed to give back what the Swamp Cats were giving them. They tried. Problem is, they seem to be REALLY bad at it. Not saying they shouldn't try to hit 'em, but they've got to knock out the cheap hits. Only a couple of their guys know how to try 'em and they got caught up into it and ended up getting caught like the rest of their teammates that tried. That was fun watching them get smoked for their own stupidity.

Went there for the ASG 2 years ago. The arena is way nicer than the MMArena but it is nothing special. It was a really fun weekend. The Swamp Cats and the NHL did a good job with it. MHO.

We will not agree on Chara. Most likely will let you have the last word on this as neither will change the other's opinion. 🍺

Actually, until he raised them up a tad, no, they weren't for a vast array of his opponents. Again, he learned very early on what the league would let him get away with and took full advantage of it. And popping guys in the head with an elbow is dirty.

It could be. It also will be REAL interesting to see how long their dominance lasts. Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic came along at just the right time to capitalize on improvements to training and equipment to stay at absolute top form for far longer than any other dominant players on the men's side. Now that their machines are pretty much out of the picture (though Djokovic hasn't yet fully given up the ghost) wonder just how long these 2 can continue to divvy up the tennis world between them (and maybe 1 more as, unlike with Sith Lords, always there are 3 seems to be SOP). (Disclaimer: don't follow tennis all that closely, so if one of you that do follow the sport closely want to say that Roger, Rafa, and Novak didn't dominate all that long, well as Emily Lutella used to say "nevermind." Though, personally, believe that having the 3 of them dominate the sport for over 20 years is in fact unprecedented in the modern era.)

Didn't realize Queensryche's members were still alive, much less still performing, might just have to check them out. Empire was an awesome album.

Stevens blew people up. Don't recall him throwing that many elbows. Not when a perfectly timed shoulder will do SOOOOO much more damage. Pronger might've been dirtier than Chara. Let's say he was for sake of argument. That doesn't make Chara "clean."

Isn't he the Rag that spit on Tuch a couple seasons back? Audette and Muni seemed to be able to coexist on the same team.

Yup. As even as you could ever see and then when Sinner got broke on the 1st serve of the final tie break that was it. But learned that in the 5th set (at least in the final round) the tie break is to 10 and not just 7. Was surprised when Alcaraz didn't go nuts when he got to 7-0, but the announcers quickly mentioned he was then 3 points from the championship. Would hate to draw a Spaniard in the French. Seems like an automatic defeat, as even the best player in the world can't close the deal there. 2nd longest final in a major in the modern era.

Of course his height accounted for a significant portion of the difference. But he's not the only supersized player to be in the NHL, but he seems to have been the 1 "monster" that consistently elbowed guys in the head. And will always have a soft spot for "May Day, May Day, May Day" but still, he was a dirty player.

Didn't say he was a burner. But he was fast enough to not just be effective but actually good in the NHL. AFTER the injury, not so much.

Well, when your knee gets blown out, it kind of affects your skating. Thaaaaannnnnks Zdeno. Hamel was having an excellent rookie year, until ...

They needed more than just Dahlin staying healthy to make the playoffs this past year. That was just the biggest of the things they needed to break there way but didn't.

LOTs of players are great people when not on the job but manage to turn on an inner arsehole when earning their paycheck. Chara could very well be a great guy off the ice. Don' care. On the ice, he was a dirty arsehole. Peca is an interesting case. Much like Scott Stevens stuff he did back in the day was perfectly legal (the vast majority of the time) but with the new rules a lot of what he did would've warranted suspensions. Peca, due to his size, would extend from low to high to forcefully put his shoulder into his opponent's shoulder / chest. It was very effective. Of course, if he mistimed the hit, the Ohlund hit immediately springs to mind, he'd be airborn by the time he made contact. And he got suspended for that one and took a fair number of penalties too. You are correct, don't feel the same way about Peca as Chara for at least a couple of reasons. 1. He RARELY hit guys in the head, but Chara routinely elbowed them in the head and got away with it. 2. Don't recall any of Peca'a hits essentially ending a guy's career or literally having had a very real chance of having paralyzed the guy for life. Apologies if black and red glasses are coloring that memory; but can absolutely recall times that Chara did those things. Dirtiest Sabre of all time. Will give 2nd place to Barnaby. (Being psychotic, and you have to be to get punched in the face by a guy twice your own size and smile while it is happening; and it explains his Jeep excursion too, tends to be somewhat mitigating IMHO.) But Brad May wins it hands down. Anyone remember how he broke his hand? He did it suckerpunching Ulfie. And in a LOT of his fights, he wouldn't square up with his opponent, instead he'd wrestle them to the ground and THEN start throwing haymakers. He also was the guy that goaded Bertuzzi into nearly killing Moore. Realise that's not a choice that will get much traction; but May was a seriously dirty player.

Yep. He did make some good moves but needed to make so many additional moves to get a critical mass of things aligned correctly and he never came close to that. Had EVERYTHING gone right, the team might've (heck, they would've) snuck into the playoffs. In the real world everything doesn't go right and from the moment Dahlin tweaked his back 5 minutes after stepping onto the ice on the 1st day of TC things already weren't going right. When he was out for ~10 games, the season was doomed. Had he done more to address the goaltending; had he gotten Power a legit partner LAST year; had he/Ruff brought in competent ACs; had he been able to bring in say 1 more Zucker and 1 more Greenway rather than Lafferty and Aube-Kubel by spending some of the money he saved by punting Skinner; THEN MAYBE they could've survived Dahlin's injuries. But he didn't.

The Sabres (and darn near every other team as well) could absolutely use a version of Chara. Doesn't change the fact that on the ice, the original was a dirty mofo that learned what the NHL would allow him to get away with and took full advantage of it.